An Oklahoma City Police captain, James “Matt” French, was arrested for driving under the influence while repeatedly asking the arresting officer to turn off his body camera during the investigation.
French, a 32-year veteran of the Oklahoma City Police Department, was pulled over on Sunday morning after police saw him swerving and speeding in his unmarked, city-owned SUV.
In body camera footage released by the Oklahoma City Police Department on Thursday, French is seen sitting in his vehicle in the driveway of the home he claims to live in with his mother.
As the officer approaches the SUV, he asks French if he’s been drinking.
He replies, “I’m a captain on the police department,” before specifying he serves as a captain in Oklahoma City.
French then seemingly points to his chest and whispers to the officer to “turn the camera off.”
The officer ignored his initial request, asking French how much he had to drink.
Not wanting to be recorded, French made the same motion toward his chest, signalling to stop the bodycam footage.
When asked if it was wise for him to be driving, French replied, “No, but I came from four blocks [away].”
French had difficulty completing the field sobriety test and was taken into custody.
Throughout the investigation, he repeatedly begged the officer to turn his body camera off.
French was booked at the Oklahoma County Detention Center and has since been bonded out.
The investigation into French’s arrest is ongoing.
Still, Chief Wade Gourley of the Oklahoma City Police Department praised the arresting officer’s professionalism under the barrage of requests to turn his camera off.
According to Fox 25, Gourley said the captain had been placed on administrative leave with pay.
As soon as criminal charges are filed, the department will do a pre-determination hearing to put the person on leave without pay, because it is a criminal matter.
In other news, the Dallas Cowboys turned down a call on Eagle’s CB Darius Slay, who was reportedly on the way to losing his all-time number 1 cornerback position with the Eagles.
Slay had recently collected permission to attempt a trade while negotiating a potential expansion with Philadelphia Eagles.
While the trade for five-time Pro Bowler Stephen Gilmore comes after a resurgent season in Indianapolis, reports came with a bonus.
Word filtered out that the Eagles called Dallas and deleted said tweets, but the rollercoaster had already started his journey.
Slay is due 17.5 million dollars this season, while Gilmore comes in at less than 10 million dollars, with 2 million dollars being in availability bonuses.
»Oklahoma City Police Department Investigates Captain’s DUI Arrest«
↯↯↯Read More On The Topic On TDPel Media ↯↯↯